Edward Fitzpatrick: We know the family name, but who is Clay Pell?

What does Clay Pell think of the calamari bill? How about the Davey Lopes pool and the Cheaters strip club?OK, it might be too soon to grill Herbert Claiborne “Clay” Pell IV — grandson of the late six-term...

Comment

Posted Oct. 22, 2013 @ 12:01 am

What does Clay Pell think of the calamari bill? How about the Davey Lopes pool and the Cheaters strip club?

OK, it might be too soon to grill Herbert Claiborne “Clay” Pell IV — grandson of the late six-term U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell — about Rhode Island’s more nitty-gritty matters. But now that the state Democratic chairman has confirmed that Pell is considering running for governor in 2014 — and now that Pell has left his job at the U.S. Department of Education — it’s time for him to explain why he’s interested in being governor and where he stands on major issues.

We know that Pell is a 31-year-old Coast Guard Reserve officer who married Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan in January at Providence’s First Unitarian Church. But we don’t know what he’d do about the country’s third-highest unemployment rate.

We know Pell graduated from Harvard and Georgetown law. But we don’t know where he stands on the state pension overhaul. We know Pell had been a deputy assistant secretary for international and foreign language education. But we don’t know what he thinks of Sakonnet River Bridge tolls.

We know plenty about his quirky grandfather — a legendary Rhode Island political figure best known for the grants that help poor and middle-class students afford college. But speaking of Pell grants, when will Pell grant an interview about his gubernatorial ambitions? He did not respond to my email and phone messages on Monday. So instead I talked to his former next-door neighbor — a guy named Governor Chafee.

“Of all the Rhode Island things, when we lived on the East Side, our next-door neighbor was Craig Robinson — Brown basketball coach, brother of Michelle Obama,” Chafee said. “So he moved out, and guess who moved in? Clay Pell.”

So what can Chafee tell us about his former Barnes Street neighbor? “He’s got a sparkling resumé, and he speaks several languages, including Spanish fluently,” he said, also noting Pell’s military service.

Chafee, who attended Pell’s wedding, said, “We have stayed friends.” So what would he tell his friend about running for governor? “The obvious gap in the resumé is state political involvement,” Chafee said. “That would be the most important: to just connect with people that understand this vast machinery that is state government. He seemed very aware that was important.”

Is Pell serious about running for governor? “Couldn’t be more serious than leaving your job,” Chafee said. Would he support Pell? “I’m still focusing on the job, so who knows down the road,” he said.

Well, what does he think of Pell’s chances of becoming the next governor? “It’s similar to 1960,” Chafee said, referring to the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in which Pell came out of nowhere to beat former governors Dennis J. Roberts and J. Howard McGrath. “I mean, as you look at it now, two well-known political names and an outsider — but guess who won?”

The 2014 Democratic primary for governor was looking like a matchup between General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. But the race’s dynamics seem to change monthly. And Pell’s entrance would only make it more interesting — especially if (like his grandfather) he believes in UFOs and jogs in tweed jackets.